Noha M. Hassan, Ameera Hamdan, Farah Shahin, Rowaida Abdelmaksoud and Thurya Bitar
To avoid the high cost of poor quality (COPQ), there is a constant need for minimizing the formation of defects during manufacturing through defect detection and process…
Abstract
Purpose
To avoid the high cost of poor quality (COPQ), there is a constant need for minimizing the formation of defects during manufacturing through defect detection and process parameters optimization. This research aims to develop, design and test a smart system that detects defects, categorizes them and uses this knowledge to enhance the quality of subsequent parts.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed system integrates data collected from the deep learning module with the machine learning module to develop and improve two regression models. One determines if set process parameters would yield a defective product while the second model optimizes them. The deep learning model utilizes final product images to categorize the part as defective or not and determines the type of defect based on image analysis. The developed framework of the system was applied to the forging process to determine its feasibility during actual manufacturing.
Findings
Results reveal that implementation of such a smart process would lead to significant contributions in enhancing manufacturing processes through higher production rates of acceptable products and lower scrap rates or rework. The role of machine learning is evident due to numerous benefits which include improving the accuracy of the regression model prediction. This artificial intelligent system enhances itself by learning which process parameters could lead to a defective product and uses this knowledge to adjust the process parameters accordingly overriding any manual setting.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed system was applied only to the forging process but could be extended to other manufacturing processes.
Originality/value
This paper studies how an artificial intelligent (AI) system can be developed and used to enhance the yield of good products.
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Noura Almansoori, Samah Aldulaijan, Sara Althani, Noha M. Hassan, Malick Ndiaye and Mahmoud Awad
Researchers heavily investigated the use of industrial robots to enhance the quality of spray-painted surfaces. Despite its advantages, automating process is not always…
Abstract
Purpose
Researchers heavily investigated the use of industrial robots to enhance the quality of spray-painted surfaces. Despite its advantages, automating process is not always economically feasible. The manual process, on the other hand, is cheaper, but its quality is prone to the mental and physical conditions of the worker making it difficult to operate consistently. This research proposes a mathematical cost model that integrates human factors in determining optimal process settings.
Design/methodology/approach
Taguchi's robust design is used to investigate the effect of fatigue, stability of worker's hand and speed on paint consumption, surface quality, and processing time. A crossed array experimental design is deployed. Regression analysis is then used to model response variables and formulate cost model, followed by a multi-response optimization.
Findings
Results reveal that noise factors have a significant influence on painting quality, time, and cost of the painted surface. As a result, a noise management strategy should be implemented to reduce their impact and obtain better quality and productivity results. The cost model can be used to determine optimal setting for different applications by product and by industry.
Originality/value
Hardly any research considered the influence of human factors. Most focused on robot trajectory and its effect on paint uniformity. In proposed research, both cost and quality are integrated into a single objective. Quality is measured in terms of uniformity, smoothness, and surface defects. The interaction between trajectory and flow rate is investigated here for the first time. A unique approach integrating quality management, statistical analysis, and optimization is used.
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Noha M. Hassan, Talal Al Maazmi, Ali Al Hadhrami and Mohamed Al Hosani
The purpose of this study is to examine whether discrete event simulation (DES) can be equally utilised in the design phase of the architecture, engineering and construction…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine whether discrete event simulation (DES) can be equally utilised in the design phase of the architecture, engineering and construction industry (AEC) projects to achieve a more efficient facility layout. Facility design is a complex process involving diverse disciplines, tasks, tools and events. Integrating key participants involved in the design generally leads to a more satisfied end-user. The AEC thoroughly examined different approaches to enhance this integration through improved communication, visualisation and coordination among the different project participants. DES has been used extensively as a tool for analysis and evaluation, especially during the construction process.
Design/methodology/approach
A facility planning framework is illustrated that combines both qualitative and quantitative analysis to achieve a performance-driven design. An investigative qualitative research approach is used to determine the design criteria and performance metrics based on the end-user and authority requirements. This approach is achieved by conducting critical reviews, surveys, focus groups and interviews. The research findings and collected data are used to perform a quantitative analysis to determine the effectiveness of the proposed design if constructed using DES. The potential of the method is shown through a case study to design a mall parking facility.
Findings
The case study illustrated the capability of DES to improve construction design by comparing the artificially designed facility following the proposed framework to an existing facility. Increasing customer satisfaction by enhancing safety, minimising waiting time and maximising parking spot availability were the performance metrics used to evaluate the designs. DES was used as a tool to measure these criteria. Utilising DES in facility design increased resource utilisation and resulted in a safer layout that satisfied the end-user, client and authority requirements.
Originality/value
Previous studies focused on integrating other modules such as energy, HVAC, lighting, acoustics and life cycle analysis to achieve a performance-driven design. The overwhelming majority of the literature focused on the use of DES for improving construction operations. Research literature about integrating DES as a tool for concurrent life cycle design was scarce. This research demonstrated that DES is an effective method and a vital key for determining the facility’s operational efficiency after construction.
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This paper aims to analyze the link between universities and business incubators (BIs) and to determine how students, scientific researchers and entrepreneurs can benefit from…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the link between universities and business incubators (BIs) and to determine how students, scientific researchers and entrepreneurs can benefit from this linkage. It creates an environment in which everyone can help the other to put their new ideas, special skills and abilities into new businesses. In other words, the traditional universities’ role has changed and entrepreneurial universities are now needed to redirect new knowledge for economic development through BIs.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts an analytical descriptive methodology approach to describe the basic features of the data by using the descriptive research design. This research is based on examining a model provided by the author concerning boosting the entrepreneurial aspects and outcomes through university business incubators (UBIs) based on wide theoretical and empirical case studies. Also, the functional structural approach is used to investigate the relationship between two variables as UBIs are considered a new unit that has functions and structures to create an added value to universities and the society as a whole.
Findings
The educational system should create a favorable environment that enables young people to develop their mindset from employees to employers, and to prepare them to improve skills and knowledge to create jobs. UBI is the recent aspect of the BI evolution where the research outcomes are linked with the industry and development. This relationship between these entities will provide success to its stakeholders.
Social implications
Many incubators around the world are supported by universities. Others are making initiatives to link up with universities and higher education institutions to get the revenues and returns from its academic nature. Lately, university incubators became a type of incubator evolution and more supportive for entrepreneurs than other types of incubators.
Originality/value
The contribution of this study is to explain how UBIs succeeded to tie the results of scientific research with economy and development through entrepreneurial activities to accelerate and realize entrepreneurship strategies.
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Soha Abutaleb, Noha M. El-Bassiouny and Sara Hamed
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of religiosity in online collaborative consumption contexts. It analyzes the impact of religiosity in influencing consumer life…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of religiosity in online collaborative consumption contexts. It analyzes the impact of religiosity in influencing consumer life decisions and behaviors. The proposed framework is based on the norm activation theory (NAT) with religiosity added to it based on the extant literature. The paper aims to provide implications for marketing researchers and practitioners derived from its analysis and propositions.
Design/methodology/approach
The current paper proposes a model for marketing researchers to consider the role of religiosity as a cultural and psychological factor in influencing online collaborative consumption. The NAT is adopted as the base of the conceptual model. The model posits research propositions on the potential interaction of religiosity with existing relationships in the theory to predict online collaborative consumption behavior.
Findings
The NAT is considered a prominent model in studying pro-environmental behaviors and it was adopted in various studies. Some researchers adopted the theory to study collaborative consumption as a pro-environmental behavior. Religiosity was found to significantly impact pro-environmental behaviors, but no research was found regarding its impact on collaborative consumption. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and implications to marketing practitioners about the role of religiosity in influencing collaborative consumption behavior.
Originality/value
Although there were few research studies that exist in discussing the role of religiosity in explaining consumer behavior, it could be argued that this paper is the first of its kind, according to the best of the authors’ knowledge, that discusses the role of religiosity in online collaborative consumption contexts through the use of NAT.
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Mohamed A.K. Basuony, Rehab EmadEldeen, Marwa Farghaly, Noha El-Bassiouny and Ehab K.A. Mohamed
This study aims to investigate factors affecting students’ satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate factors affecting students’ satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses quantitative data. A survey of 280 respondents, representing undergraduate students in business schools in Cairo, Egypt is conducted. The survey includes both public and private universities. The participants are questioned about their opinions and attitudes toward satisfaction with online learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
The findings of this study reveal that Egyptian university students prefer to use synchronous teaching methods using different platforms. Attending virtual sessions and real-time conference call classes are the most preferred mode of delivery as perceived by the respondents. Also, the results of this study found that the internet, platform, class time, loss of interest, motivation and self-motivation and use of online exams as an assessment can be considered as the factors that significantly affect students’ satisfaction with online learning in Egypt.
Originality/value
To the best of the knowledge, this study is among the first group of studies in Muslim emerging countries that explore the factors affecting students’ satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Hadeer Hammad, Viola Muster, Noha M. El-Bassiouny and Martina Schaefer
Conspicuous consumption and sustainable consumption are commonly understood as being in contradiction with each other. Yet, scholars have recently become increasingly interested…
Abstract
Purpose
Conspicuous consumption and sustainable consumption are commonly understood as being in contradiction with each other. Yet, scholars have recently become increasingly interested in examining positive relationships between these forms of consumption. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the synergies and contradictions between sustainable and luxury consumption and proposing whether and how conspicuous motives can foster a shift towards sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries in general and Egypt in particular.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a conceptual note, intended as a starting point and acting as an eye-opener regarding the values inherent in both conspicuous and sustainable consumption and the potential influence that conspicuous motivations could have on the latter.
Findings
The paper discusses the possibilities for and limitations of conspicuous motives to foster sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries in the Middle East. The adoption of westernized lifestyles, spreading in Middle Eastern countries, can represent a venue for motivating sustainable consumption behaviours as a means of status distinction. On the other hand, the trickle-down effect and the preconditions of visibility and exclusiveness pose risks on promoting sustainable consumption by addressing conspicuous motives.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that the synergistic interplay between conspicuous and sustainable consumption, as well as barriers and motivations underpinning both constructs, needs to be empirically researched, while factoring in the cultural specifics of the countries under study, as cultural nuances can influence the dynamics of interaction between conspicuous and sustainable behaviours.
Originality/value
Given the salience of the relationship between luxury and sustainable consumption and the focus of most studies on early-industrialized countries, insights regarding the possible influences of conspicuous motives on sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries are warranted. With the scarcity of research examining the ambiguous relationship between conspicuous and sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries, this paper contributes by providing insights about the conditions that can help conspicuous motives promote sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries.
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Soha Abutaleb and Noha El-Bassiouny
The paper examines three main stakeholders in the market and their roles toward achieving sustainability marketing. Those stakeholders are consumers, companies and policymakers…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper examines three main stakeholders in the market and their roles toward achieving sustainability marketing. Those stakeholders are consumers, companies and policymakers. The current study is examining consumers’ attitudes toward sustainability marketing and their purchase intentions of sustainable products through the use of theory of planned behavior. The paper is also examining the role of companies and policymakers in encouraging consumers to consider sustainability in their purchasing decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
Concurrent research study is applied, where qualitative and quantitative research methods are conducted at the same time for different purposes with equal weights. Qualitative interviews were applied with fast-moving consumer goods companies and policymakers, while quantitative surveys were applied with Egyptian consumers.
Findings
The results showed that companies are taking serious and effective steps in transforming their marketing strategies into sustainable marketing ones. The government role is still limited as there are no strict laws and regulations that force companies and factories in Egypt to develop sustainability marketing strategies. Consumers’ attitudes were highly affected by firms' sustainable practices as well as subjective norms that led to influencing their intentions toward purchasing sustainable products.
Originality/value
Although the topic of sustainability marketing is considered by a plenty of researchers in the academic discipline, there are no studies that have combined the main three stakeholders' roles in achieving sustainability marketing in one study. The study highlights the impact of government role and firms' role on consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions toward sustainable products, especially convenient products. This was done through the adoption of the theory of planned behavior.
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Raghda El Ebrashi, Rania Salem, Dina El Kayaly and Noha El-Bassiouny
This paper aims to investigate the role of demographics and sector type in determining consumer preferences of Islamic micro-credit products, namely, Musharka and Murabha, versus…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of demographics and sector type in determining consumer preferences of Islamic micro-credit products, namely, Musharka and Murabha, versus conventional micro-credit financing in Egypt.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is a quantitative study that uses surveys on 1,125 current micro-credit consumers in Cairo and Upper Egypt using multi-staged cluster sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used to explain results.
Findings
The study revealed the potential of Musharka mode of financing among micro-credit borrowers in Egypt, specifically in the manufacturing sector, followed by the trade sector. Although previous researches showed correlations between income, age and other demographic factors with consumer financing choices, the current research indicated no significance for consumer demographics in determining preferences of Islamic micro-credit contracts in Egypt. However, the sector type showed high potential in determining consumer choices of Islamic micro-credit contracts.
Research limitations/implications
This paper advances knowledge in the domain of consumer behavior, specifically in bottom of the pyramid and subsistence markets that are under researched.
Practical implications
The results highlighted are important for micro-finance institutions, NGOs and policy makers, as they delve deeper into the consumer preferences for Islamic financial products and attempt to present innovative solutions toward poverty eradication.
Originality/value
This research is one of the few attempts to study and explain consumer preferences toward Islamic micro-credit products in Egypt, and the role of sectors in determining consumer choices for specific Islamic micro-credit contracts.
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The purpose of this paper is to delve into the intricate relationships between hijab culture and consumption. The research questions whether the hijab consumption phenomenon is an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to delve into the intricate relationships between hijab culture and consumption. The research questions whether the hijab consumption phenomenon is an icon of fashion or an authentic blend of religious and cultural tenets.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses a netnographic approach in a qualitative manner similar to ethnography on the internet. An online forum is created on social media for Egyptian hijabista consumers, who reflect on their self-transformations with respect to the hijab phenomenon.
Findings
The findings of the study provide insights relevant to the consumer experiences of the hijab fashion phenomenon. The results are analyzed using Holt’s (1995) consumption parabola, where the insights show the consumption as experience, integration, play and classification metaphors in action. Most insights show that the hijab fashion experience combines authentic religious meanings with cultural ones.
Research limitations/implications
The study methodology used is qualitative, thereby putting limitations on generalizing the findings to other consumers and contexts.
Practical implications
The findings are relevant to fashion designers and fashion marketers who aim at understanding the hijabista culture.
Social implications
The results are relevant to consumer culture theorists as well as to macromarketing researchers looking at authenticity in the hijab fashion phenomenon. The research is also relevant in understanding the hijabista culture, which is a growing consumer culture around the globe.
Originality/value
The research combines the literatures on consumer culture theory, self-transformations and authenticity with regards to the hijab consumption phenomenon. Such relationships were not explored previously in the literature. The methodological approach is also novel.